Page 120 of Heartstring

There’s a bouquet of fresh flowers inside a jar. I didn’t arrange for it and my dad didn’t have any family that would come here. Clyde is now too old to come here. I keep in touch with him by phone.

“If I was to take a wild guess, I’d say my mom made that happen as an apology,” Mik says. “She’s been doing a lot of that since my dad died. I’m not sure she forgives herself for sitting back while he took over our lives.”

I stand and say a silent prayer to my dad. Thanking him for all the good times, the jokes, the infinite wisdom, even when he was wrong, and for passing on his love of music to me.

Even though he didn’t have kids of his own, I am his legacy, and in every song I write, there’s always a little bit of him in it.

Mik kneels and touches the headstone.

“Hello, Mr. Shaw. There’s so much I want to say to you, but even though I’ve spent my life writing songs, I still can’t find the right words. You were more than Ty’s dad for me. In some ways, you were my dad too. You made sure I didn’t slack on my homework, and if I was going to be a rock star with your son, then I sure as hell needed to keep practicing my scales.”

I choke as Mik talks to my dad.

“But I failed you. I took the opportunity that was your son’s right to have. He should have been the chosen one. He was always more talented, more focused. He had a purpose. I was just going along because I liked having a dream that involved the boy I loved so much.”

“Mik.” My voice comes out hoarse as my eyes again fill with tears.

“Shhh, baby. This is between me and your dad.”

I choke out a laugh.

“Anyway, Mr. Shaw. I can’t change the past, but I can do something about the future. I hope you can see from up where you are how much I love your son. He was always the missing piece of my heart until I found him again. Now I am whole. I’ve broken many promises in the past, so I’m not sure how much my word is worth, but I’m going to ask anyway. How do you feel about me asking Ty to marry me?”

I let out an audible gasp. Mik turns to me, still on his knees, and takes a small velvet box out of his pocket.

“What do you say, baby?”

I take his hand and help him stand.

“You asked my dad if you could marry me.”

“I would have asked your husband, but I think the odds there would have been stacked against me,” he says.

I smile. “Porter would have liked you.”

He places a soft kiss on my lips. “Not when he found out my nefarious intentions toward his husband.”

“Nefarious?”

He winks. “So what do you say, old man? Will you take me and my daughter to be your lawfully wedded family?”

“I do.”

He picks me up and slams his lips against mine.

“I so fucking do.”

He spins me around before setting me down and placing one of the rings on my finger and the other on his.

“I spoke with Kay, and she agrees with me,” he says.

“Cryptic. What does she agree with? I’m scared to ask.”

“We’re changing our surname to Shaw.”

I’m blown away by their decision. “Why?”

“Because, my love, Tyler Benjamin Shaw David, nothing would make me happier than carrying your name for the rest of my life.”